For the 1943 Frank Capra documentary, see The Battle of Britain.

Battle of Britain
original film poster
Directed by	Guy Hamilton
Produced by	Harry Saltzman S. Benjamin Fisz
Written by	James Kennaway Wilfred Greatorex
Starring	Laurence Olivier Hein Riess Trevor Howard Robert Shaw Christopher Plummer Michael Caine Edward Fox Susannah York Ian McShane Kenneth More Ralph Richardson Patrick Wymark Michael Redgrave Curt Jürgens Nigel Patrick
Music by	Ron Goodwin William Walton
Cinematography	Freddie Young
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	1969
Running time	151 min. (original UK version) (133 min.)
Country	UK
Language	English German Polish French
Budget	$12,000,000
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Battle of Britain is a 1969 film directed by Guy Hamilton, and produced by Harry Saltzman and S Benjamin Fisz. The film broadly relates the events of the Battle of Britain. The script by James Kennaway and Wilfred Greatorex was based on the book The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster.

The film aimed to be an accurate account of the Battle of Britain, when in the summer and autumn of 1940 the British RAF inflicted a strategic defeat on the Luftwaffe and so ensured the cancellation of Operation Sealion — Hitler's plan to invade Britain. The huge strategic victory of the outnumbered British pilots would be summed up by Winston Churchill in the immortal words: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

The film is notable for its spectacular flying sequences, echoing those seen in Angels One Five (1952) but on a far grander scale than had been seen on film before. These made the film's production very expensive.

Cast

The film has a large all-star cast. It was notable for its portrayal of the Germans by subtitled German-speaking actors.

Commonwealth

• Laurence Olivier as Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, Air Officer Commander-in-Chief RAF Fighter Command.
• Trevor Howard as New Zealander Air Vice-Marshal Sir Keith Park, Air Officer commanding No. 11 Group RAF.
• Patrick Wymark as Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Air Officer commanding No. 12 Group RAF.
• Christopher Plummer as Canadian fighter pilot, Squadron Leader Colin Harvey. Since Plummer is Canadian, he asked for his character's RAF uniform to display the "Canada" shoulder flashes.
• Michael Caine as Squadron Leader Canfield
• Ralph Richardson as the British ambassador to Switzerland.
• Robert Shaw as Squadron Leader Skipper.
• Susannah York as Section Officer Maggie Harvey, Colin's wife.
• Ian McShane as Sergeant Pilot Andy
• Kenneth More (who had portrayed Douglas Bader in Reach for the Sky 12 years before) as Group Captain Barker, Station Commander at RAF Duxford.
• Edward Fox as Pilot Officer Archie.

German

• Curt Jürgens as the German ambassador to Switzerland.
• Hein Riess, a larger-than-life musical star, as Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe. One scene included a brief exchange based on what wartime Luftwaffe pilot Adolf Galland (who was to become the youngest man to hold the rank of general in the Luftwaffe at the age of 30) said to Göring. When Göring asked Galland (the character of "Falke" was a substitute in the movie) what he needed, Galland allegedly replied, "Give me a squadron of Spitfires!" According to a booklet publicizing the movie, Riess had allegedly once met Göring himself during the war. Galland himself acted as a technical advisor for the movie.

The making of the film

For the movie, the producers Harry Saltzman and S. Benjamin Fisz assembled a huge number of historical aircraft (eventually 100 aircraft were employed, whimsically called the "35th largest air force in the world^[1]), contracting former Bomber Command war hero Group Captain Hamish Mahaddie in September 1965, to find them^[2]. In the late 1960s there were few restoration projects for classic aircraft and through Mahaddie's efforts, the film company located 109 Spitfires in the UK with 27 Spitfires (12 flyable) as well as six Hawker Hurricanes (three flyable) available for filming. The film helped preserve them; the most striking example was the restoration of a Spitfire Mk II which had been a gate guardian at RAF Colerne^[2]. Due to the large range of Spitfire variants employed (nine different marks), the film company made some "standardized" modifications including fitting elliptical wingtips, modifying canopies and turtledecks as well as removing later series whip antennas and cannon stubs in order to achieve a "1940s" look . These modified aircraft are known today within the classic warbird scene as "Mark Haddies", in a play on Grp. Capt. Mahaddie's last name.^[2].

A rare Hawker Hurricane XII had been restored by Canadian Bob Diemert, who flew the aircraft in the film. Eight non-flying Spitfires and two Hurricanes were available as "set dressing" with one Hurricane able to taxi.^[3]

London in flames

Thirty-two flyable Heinkel He 111 bombers and 27 Merlin-engined Me 109s (of which 17 were made flyable) were also found in Tablada military airbase, Seville (Spain). The Heinkels were Spanish-built He-111H-16 models (CASA 2.111s) and were also powered by Merlin-engines. The single-seat "Messerschmitt" fighters were Spanish-assembled versions called the Hispano Aviación HA-1112 M1L Buchon. After the making of the film, one of the HA-1112 was donated to the Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr and converted to a Messerschmitt Bf-109 G-2 variant, now depicting the insignias of Gustav Rödel. In addition, two Spanish-built Junkers Ju 52s were used. Two of the "Heinkels" and the 17 flyable "Messerschmitts" (including one dual-controlled HA-1112-M4L two-seater used for conversion training and as a camera-ship) were later flown to England to complete the shoot ^[1]. In the scene where the Polish training squadron breaks off to attack, ("repeat, please"), the most distant "Hurricane"s from the camera were actually Buchons marked as Hurricanes as there were not enough flyable Hawkers to make up the formation.

In order to recreate Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" divebombers, the film company acquired four Percival Proctor training aircraft and converted two of them into 1/2 scale Stuka replicas, complete with a cranked wing as "Proctukas" ^[1]. In order to duplicate the steep diving angle of the original Ju 87 attacks, large scale models flown by radio control were used in one scene for sequences of the Luftwaffe attacks against the British radar sites^[1]. Radio controlled Heinkel He 111 models were also built and flown to depict bombers being destroyed over the North Sea.

Filming in England was carried out at four airfields, Duxford, Debden, North Weald and Hawkinge, all of which were operational during the Battle — indeed, one surviving Second World War hangar at Duxford was actually blown up and demolished for the "Eagle Day" sequence rather than the explosions being simulated. A North American B-25 Mitchell flown by Jeff Hawke was the primary aerial camera platform for the aviation sequences and as it was painted garishly half-green and half-red, with "electric" green vertical stabilizers, wings striped yellow and black and engine cowlings yellow and white. The markings were primarily intended for line-up references for aerial filming ^[1]. When it first arrived painted like that at Tablada airbase in Spain in the early afternoon of 18 March 1968, the spontaneous comment from Derek Cracknell, the assistant director, was "It's a bloody great psychedelic monster! ...and the Psychedelic Monster it was christened from that moment on.^[4]"

Location filming in London was carried out mainly in the St Katharine Docks area where older houses were being demolished to make way for new housing estates. Partly demolished buildings were used to represent bombed out houses and some disused buildings were set on fire. Ironically, St Katharine Docks was one of the few areas of London's East End to survive The Blitz. Many of the extras were survivors of the Blitz. Aldwych tube station, which was used as a wartime air-raid shelter, was also used as a filming location. Almost all the period equipment from the London Fire Brigade Museum was used in the film.

The scenes at RAF Fighter Command were filmed on location at RAF Bentley Priory, the headquarters of Fighter Command during the Second World War. Air Chief Marshal Dowding's original office, complete with the original furniture, was used.

Poor weather beset the filming in the UK; in an effort to reflect the cloudless skies over Britain in the summer of 1940, many upward-facing flying shots were filmed in clear skies over Spain, while the downward-facing shots were almost all done below the clouds, over southern England, whose farmland landscape is very distinctive. However the 1940 camouflage was so perfectly recreated it was difficult to see the planes against the ground and sky, so a cloud background was used where possible. Only one Spitfire was relocated to Spain to stand in for the RAF defenders ^[1].

Another early key scene was the Dunkirk recreation which coincidentally was shot at the beachfront at Huelva, Spain. Only later did the directors find out this was the actual location where the deception known as "The Man Who Never Was" had been carried out. The Nazis were deceived by counterfeit documents purporting that the Allies were planning to invade Sardinia rather than Sicily, planted on the corpse of a drowned man, dressed as a fictitious Royal Marines Officer, Major Martin, who was allowed to wash up on the beach in 1943.^[5]

Accuracies and inaccuracies

The film is generally faithful to the events although merging some characters for dramatic reasons. It sticks to the orthodox view of the battle — that the Germans threw away their tactical advantages by switching bombing away from RAF airfields to terror bombing of London in revenge for RAF raids on Berlin. Later scholarship has cast doubt on this view, either arguing that the German switch was because they thought they had already defeated the RAF or that accelerated British aircraft production meant that defeat was never likely.^{[citation needed]}

The Robert Shaw character "Squadron Leader Skipper" is based loosely on Squadron Leader Sailor Malan, a prominent South African fighter ace and No. 74 Squadron commander during the battle.

The scenes in the operation centre in which the British listen to their fighters' wireless transmissions is for dramatic reasons only. In reality, the operations centre received information on the progress of the battle by telephone from the sector airfields.

The scenes at the end of the film, where the RAF pilots are seen suddenly idle and left awaiting the return of the Luftwaffe raids is more cinematic license; the battle gradually fizzled out through late September although further large raids continued at least until the end of 1940.

The confrontational scene between Dowding, Park, and Leigh-Mallory is entirely fictitious.

The film doesn't mention that, shortly following the end of the Battle, both Dowding and Park were forced out of command due to political chicanery by Leigh-Mallory, despite having proved that Leigh-Mallory's theories were unworkable.^[6]

Dowding was a Scot; Laurence Olivier was unaware of this, though since Dowding was educated at Winchester College, it is unlikely he retained an accent (Dowding met Olivier on the set of Battle of Britain, as shown in a documentary present on the UK DVD release; as such, Olivier was familiar with Dowding's actual voice).

One major omission is at the end of the film, when casualties from both sides are listed. The film does not mention losses suffered by Corpo Aereo Italiano, an Italian expeditionary force that took part in the battle. In fact, Corpo Aereo Italiano is not mentioned at all during the film. One entry in the casualty list is a lone pilot from Israel, which was the British protectorate of Palestine until after war's end in 1948.

There was no attempt to recreate the effect of tracer ammunition.

Memorable quotes

• Boys spotting approaching German raiders:

Boy 1:"Messerschmitts!"

Boy 2:"'Einkels!"

Boy 1:"Messerschmitts!"

Boy 2:"No they ain't, they're 'Einkels!"

• The British Ambassador's response to a German ultimatum:

"We're not easily frightened. Also we know how hard it is for an army to cross the Channel — the last little corporal to try it came a cropper. So don't threaten or dictate to us until you're marching up Whitehall! ...and even then we won't listen!"

• When troubled English pilot, "Simon," returns to land, he is forced to do a "go-around" because he had failed to put down his landing gear. Two of the more experienced pilots launch into an evidently familiar routine:

Pilot Officer Archie: "You can teach..."

Sergeant Pilot Andy joins in: "...monkeys to fly better than that!"

• A group of German prisoners have been brought to a bombed airfield:

Squadron Leader Skipper: "Where are you taking those vultures?"

RAF NCO: "Officers to the mess, NCOs to the guard room, Sir."

Squadron Leader Skipper: "Like hell you are. They're responsible for all that (turning and gesturing to the ruined field), get 'em to clear it up!"

NCO: "But, what about the officers, Sir?"

Squadron Leader Skipper: "Give them a bloody shovel!"

• Leigh-Mallory and Park, in Dowding's office:

Leigh-Mallory: "It's better to shoot down 50 bombers after they hit their targets than ten before."

Park: "Remember that the targets are my airfields, Leigh-Mallory, and you're not getting 50, you're not even getting ten!"

• Sergeant Pilot Andy, having been shot down in combat, appears in the doorway of the hangar.

Squadron Leader Skipper: "Where the hell have you been?"

Sergeant Pilot Andy: "Learning to swim."

Squadron Leader Skipper: "Did you get him?"

Sergeant Pilot Andy: "All I got was a bellyful of English Channel."

• Summoned to Berlin to be disciplined for accidentally bombing London, Major Brandt and his navigator drive through the brightly lit city. (Dialogue is in German, text given is that of the English subtitles.)

Navigator: "Haven't they heard of a blackout?"

Brandt: "You heard what Göring said — 'If one enemy bomb falls on Berlin, you can call me Meier'" ^[7].

Street lights suddenly go out, air-raid sirens sound and there is panic in the streets. Search lights sweep the sky as anti-Aircraft guns begin firing. Brandt and his navigator get out of their car and look up at the sky.

Navigator: "As from today, we are called Meier..."

• Göring, gazing with pride at a huge fleet of German aircraft heading for England:

"If we lose the war now, they'll tear our arses asunder." (Dialogue is in German, text given is that of the English subtitles.)

Musical score

The stirring musical score was originally written by Sir William Walton and conducted by Malcolm Arnold. However, the music department at United Artists objected that the score was insufficient to make up a long-playing record. As a result, the score was rejected and the film was rescored by Ron Goodwin. At the instigation of S. Benjamin Fisz and Sir Laurence Olivier (he threatened to be uncredited) one segment of the Walton score, titled The Battle in the Air, framing the climactic air battles of 15th September 1940, was retained in the final cut. Tapes of the Walton score were believed lost forever until rediscovered in 1990, since when they have been restored and released on CD. The complete Walton score was reinstated as an added extra on the Region 2 Special Edition DVD of the film released in June 2004.

For the opening credits, Goodwin composed the Aces High March in the style of a traditional German march in 2/4 time. The march places heavy emphasis on the "oom-pah" sound of tubas and lower-pitched horns on the first and second beats and has the glockenspiel double the horns in the melody. Because the length of the credit sequence, which involves a general's inspection of a newly-occupied airbase in France, the Aces High has three separate bridges between choruses of the main theme. G. Gordon Liddy has used the march as bumper music on his syndicated radio program.

Influence

• Both a hardcover and paperback book of the making of the movie were published in 1969.
• Tora! Tora! Tora! followed the next year, an American/Japanese WWII aerial epic based on the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor. The 2001 film Pearl Harbor included scenes apparently set during the Battle of Britain where American pilots were among the volunteers, although these are identified as taking place during 1941.
• Film of a damaged Heinkel bomber emitting smoke and losing altitude was re-used in the 1972 film Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall.
• Short clips from the main "battle in the air" sequence were used in the Baa Baa Black Sheep television series (1976–1978).
• A fragment of the soundtrack of one of the dogfights is used on the album The Wall (1979) by Pink Floyd, right at the start of the track Vera.
• Some of the Stuka footage was re-used in the 1996 BBC drama series No Bananas.
• Footage from the film was re-used in the 2001 Czech film Dark Blue World.

References

• Hankin, Raymond. "Filming the Battle." Flying Review International Vol. 24, no. 2, October 1968.
• MacCarron, Donald. "Mahaddie's Air Force." FlyPast September 1999.
• Mosley, Leonard. Battle of Britain: The Story of a Film. London: Pan Books, 1969. ISBN 0-330-02357-8.

External links

• Battle of Britain at the Internet Movie Database
• Battle of Britain at All Movie Guide
• Battle of Britain at Rotten Tomatoes

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